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January 29, 2024
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The Rodders Beach Festival turned Orewa into an oasis of growling hot rods, vintage style and rock ‘n’ roll over Anniversary Weekend. Pictured at the opening event by Orewa Beach are Hibiscus Coast local, and Miss Vintage Australasia winner, Hanna Smithies (aka Dariel Dearlove) in the pink Cadillac owned by event coorganiser Sharon Morris. Hibiscus Matters was at the festival – more photos on our Facebook page.
Is there hope for Okura Bush walkway?
The long-closed southern portion of the Okura Bush walkway, battered by last summer’s extreme weather, is to remain off-limits for the foreseeable future – and last month the Department of Conservation (DOC) raised the prospect that it may, in fact, never be reinstated.
The track, which runs from the end of Haigh Access Road through mixed coastal forest to Karepiro Bay, is popular with recreational walkers and trail runners. “Given the extensive damage to the walkway, finding a solution that will
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withstand future severe weather events will be challenging and likely very costly,” DOC’s Auckland mainland operations manager, Rebecca Rush, said. “This may result in a decision not to reinstate the walkway.” “If a solution is found to reinstate all or part of the walkway, it is likely to take some years to plan and undertake this work,” she added. DOC first closed the walkway in May 2018 in a bid to stop the spread of the soil-borne pathogen that causes kauri dieback disease.
Some tracks were upgraded in 2019 and 2021 to mitigate against the risk of the disease, but the walkway remained closed as more work was found to be needed. It was still closed when last summer’s severe weather caused major slip damage to four sections along the southern end of the track. One landslide spanning about 40 metres extends from the top of the cliff to the sea, making the section impassable. Three other slips have either destroyed or severely compromised the track. “Sadly, there are no easy fixes for Okura
Bush walkway,” Rush said. “We have sought a geotechnical report and are working closely with mana whenua to continue to explore options for the longterm future of the track.” Rush acknowledged the process has been a long one and that it was frustrating to have the walkway closed for recreation. “However, we’re now dealing with both significant landslides in addition to concern over the health of kauri – some of the trees are centuries old.” continued p2
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